Shadow Chapter 4
I was still stunned by what I discovered last night.
Afterward, I got off the computer and went to bed.
I didn’t go to sleep. Instead, I lay there, the revelation running through my head.
One burning question was, did Brae know Cambria’s real identity?
If not, did her identity pose a risk to Brae?
The answer to that was maybe. I knew I had to tell Rage what I found and then speak to Brae.
What I read was sickening and left me feeling terrible for Cambria. How did someone survive that, especially when it happened when you were in your teens? No wonder she had a new identity. I would’ve too. No one wanted to be associated with Garen Brooks.
I intended to talk to Rage first thing when I got up, but my brothers caught me.
We all needed to shift a bunch of stuff in the storage sheds at the back of the property.
If we all worked together, it would take just a few hours.
New shelving units had been bought and assembled.
All that was left was to put them in place after shifting boxes and other items out of the way, then placing them on the various shelves.
Rage was helping, but this wasn’t something we should talk about openly.
I did catch him long enough to tell him we had to meet after we were done.
Things were shaping up faster than expected. At this rate, we had an hour’s worth of work left. I lifted another box onto a shelf.
“Hey, Shadow, Crusher, I need to speak to you two in private. Now,” Wrath called out from the doorway.
What was that about? I thought. I didn’t waste time getting over to him. Crusher was right behind me. Wrath wasn’t smiling. Rage came ambling up.
“Is everything alright?” Rage asked. Even if Wrath was president, Rage was close by if he needed him.
“No, but I hope these two can help make it that way. Hell, you come too,” Wrath said to his dad before walking off. Exchanging looks with Crusher and Rage, we followed. We stopped beside the storage building.
“What’s happened?” Crusher asked.
“I got a call from Loki and Brae. Don’t panic, she’s fine and so is the family.
They called to ask a favor. They want to know if I can send one or two guys to help a friend of Brae’s.
We’re closer than Hunters Creek is. In addition, they need you two to use your computer magic to figure out how her friend was exposed online.
They said she was doxed, whatever the hell that is. ”
My heart sank, and my stomach churned. Please don’t be Cambria, don’t be Cambria, I thought.
“Pres, what is the name of the friend?” I asked hoarsely. Rage was giving me a wide-eyed look.
“Cambria Mulally. She’s a college friend of hers,” Wrath replied.
Pure nausea filled me. I groaned, which got all of their attention.
“What’s wrong?” Crusher asked.
“There’s no need to search for who doxed her. It wasn’t done on purpose, and there was no malicious intent.”
“How the hell do you know that?” Wrath asked.
“Because I’m pretty sure this is my fault. I doxed her, but it was entirely by accident. I swear to God. I swear I covered my tracks. There’s no way I’d expose what I found.”
“You found Cam!” Rage exclaimed.
As I nodded, Wrath and Crusher stared at me. Finally, Wrath had had enough. He cut in.
“I want to know who the fuck is Cam? Why did you expose this woman, and anything else that pertains to this issue?” Pres demanded.
As concisely as I could, I laid out why I looked into Cambria and how I’d found this elusive entity online.
I kept out the technical stuff about how I did it.
I ended with my shocking discovery last night and what I intended to do with it this morning.
When I was done, all three stood there, staring at me in appalled silence.
They weren’t any more stunned than I was.
“I can’t fucking believe this! You exposed her. She’s a close friend of my sister. Dad, what the hell were you thinking to ask him to do that? You should’ve told me. Christ, what can you do to fix this?” Wrath barked.
“I won’t know until I get back online,” I explained. Crusher agreed.
“Then I want your asses together, working this. But first, back to my office at the clubhouse. We need to call Brae and Loki and explain what happened. Be prepared for her to lose her shit.”
“Pres, I deserve it. I should’ve known that I was leaving footprints for others to use, but I swear on my cut, I don’t see how they were found and followed. Shit, it was all I could do to find them.”
“Shadow, since I have no clue what you’re talking about, I’ll take you at your word for it. It seems Crush is here nodding, indicating he agrees with you. Let’s get this over with. Prepare yourselves,” Wrath said. We headed to where our bikes or vehicles were parked.
The short ride to the clubhouse didn’t allow me to begin sorting out my twisted thoughts.
All I kept thinking about was how exposed Cambria was and how that made her feel.
At Wrath’s office, we gathered around his desk to be close to the phone.
I impatiently waited for him to dial, and then the call connected.
It was Brae who answered. She was somewhat breathless.
“Did you ask them? Will they do it? Who’s coming to protect Cam?” she fired off. There was no greeting.
“Hang on there, Spellbinder. Give Wrath a chance to speak,” Loki told her. He said it kindly. I had no doubt he was probably holding her.
She sighed. “I’m sorry, Wrath. I didn’t mean to be rude. I’m just worried about her. The calls keep coming. I want someone there before they figure out her address. They’re crazy, and the shit they’re saying they’ll do to her is scary.”
“Wait a minute. She’s getting threats?” I barked.
“Oh, hey, Shadow. Yes. They started this morning. Cambria is shaken. I want someone to be there in case it gets worse, and someone shows up on her doorstep. She’s got guns, but she has to sleep, and she has no one. I’m it, and I’m so far away.”
Wrath held up his hand to silence us.
“Brae, I have Shadow, Crusher, and Rage here. I told them the basics. However, there’s something that Rage and Shadow need to tell you.”
“Okay, what?” she asked.
Rage went first. “Hey, sweetheart, I’ve got to tell you about what I did. Just hear me out and then listen to Shadow before you say anything. Okay?”
“Sure,” she said slowly.
“Remember that call when you talked about how you had your investigator gathering information for that case of yours while you’re on leave?
I asked for the person’s name, and you refused to tell me.
Well, I was worried about it, so I went to see Shadow and asked him to figure out who your investigator was.
The only clue we had was your mom recalled you saying the name Cam once. ”
We heard the gasp on her end, but no words followed. I took over.
“So when he asked, I agreed to see if I could find the person. It took days, and the trail was almost invisible to the naked eye. I had a helluva time unraveling who it was. She sure covered her ass. Or she had until last night. I stumbled upon your college yearbook, and when I saw her name from your freshman year, I just knew it had to be her, so I dove into learning more about Cambria Mulally. I then followed more trails until I came to her history, only I recognized it was a cleverly constructed shell. It wasn’t her life.
I sniffed around more, and somehow I was led to her real name and figured out why she changed it.
“God, Brae, you have no idea how awful I felt learning her history. I planned to call Rage and call you first thing this morning, but Wrath called everyone in for a work party. We were still working on it when Wrath came to get Crusher and me. Rage tagged along. I’m so goddamn sorry, Brae.
I never meant to expose her or lead anyone to her.
I swear, I covered my tracks. I have no clue how I left either of our footprints visible.
But I will do everything in my power to bury them and restore her peace. ”
I ran out of steam at this point. The silence was deafening. I wished I could see her face. The silence lasted a minute or more before Brae said anything.
“I can’t believe you went behind my back to snoop, Rage.
I told you there was no need to investigate Cambria.
And the very reason I didn’t want you to do that was that I wasn’t going to stir up bad memories or somehow expose her true identity.
You should’ve asked me. Told me what you planned rather than doing it behind my back.
Mom should’ve told me so I could put a stop to it. ”
Her words were full of anger and hurt. Rage appeared devastated. She hadn’t called him Daddy Rage, and he noticed it.
“Sweetheart, you don’t know how fucking sorry I am that I asked Shadow to do it.
Please, don’t be angry at him. He was only doing as I asked.
I know he wouldn’t deliberately do something to expose her like this.
I swear, we’ll make it right. I’ll stay with her until the danger is past. If that takes ten years, then so be it.
That’s where your mom and I will be. For God’s sake, don’t cut us out of your lives,” he pleaded, choking on the last sentence.
“I’m pissed but not that pissed. I won’t cut you out of our lives, but you can’t do this kind of shit again.
And you have to help me make her safe again.
If that means you spend some time there on her protection detail, as long as Wrath is willing, then great.
Loki is going to ask Bull whether any of his guys are free.
There are still several single guys who could do it.
That way, no one is taken away from their family. ”
Instantly, I scowled. The thought of any single guy from their club or ours staying with Cambria made me want to shout, fuck no!